


Dial Tone

by ineffablesheep



Series: Phone Calls From Hindsight [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Civil War Team Iron Man, Gen, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Not A Fix-It, Not Steve Friendly, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-17 00:23:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13065270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ineffablesheep/pseuds/ineffablesheep
Summary: When James Rhodes went to MIT he wanted to study engineering and join the airforce, to serve his country like Captain America. He didn't expect to adopt a brother in the form of a fourteen year old genius.Rhodey didn't expect in thirty years he'd be yelling at his childhood hero for nearly killing his little brotherPlease read the tags. This isn't Steve friendly, it's also Team Iron Man. Don't like don't read





	Dial Tone

**Author's Note:**

> You lovelies are the best you know that? The comment about shoes was 90% a joke and so many of you gave such amazing advice. Thank you so much to all of you!
> 
> As a thank you I tried to get this one written a little faster, and bring someone new to the table :D
> 
> EDIT - sorry about the formatting issues, my laptop has been fighting me since the last time it was properly updated. Like Gerty, get your shit together

He was kneeling over the suit, shield raised in the air. He could do it, he could end all of this right now. Tony had raised his arms to brace against the blow but what good would it do?

 

Ring

 

Shield still above his head, Steve froze. Why had Tony stopped moving? Steve hadn't even hit him yet.

 

Ring

 

Something was wrong, Tony had brown eyes. Not slate-grey, not like Bucky's. Wait, why was Bucky on the ground-

 

**Ring**

 

-beneath Steve's shield? Oh god, what had Steve done to his friend-

 

**_RING_ **

 

Steve lunged for the fliptop on his bedside table, struggling against the twisted grip of the sheets.

 

"Tony!" He panted, heaving in a breath. "Tony, is everything okay? Are you alright what's going on what's-"

 

A cold "Captain" brought Steve up short. Taking a moment he sat upright and flicked his bedside lamp on.

 

"Colonel Rhodes? What's going on? Where's Tony?"

 

"You don't get to ask about Tony, Rogers. You're gonna listen, and answer my questions. Got it?" Oh god, this felt like Laura all over again.

 

"Understood, Rhodes."

 

"Are you or are you not a military man, Captain Rogers?"

 

"You know I am."

 

"You fought in World War Two, you fought with the Avengers, you went on Shield missions, and you’ve been to plenty of events with vets and current serving members of the armed forces. So, what is the number one rule, Captain Rogers?"

 

"To serve our country to the best of our abilit-"

 

A shrieking sound pierced his ears through the tinny phone speakers. Steve threw the phone at the wall and launched himself in the opposite direction. The sheets caught him once again, leaving him in a bundle half-on-half-off the bed. Panting like he'd just woken from his nightmare again, he cautiously, ever so cautiously, disentangled himself from the sheets and edged his way towards the now silent fliptop.

 

He picked it up and climbed back onto his bed, the phone held a safe distance from his ear.

 

"Rhodes?"

 

"Wrong answer, Captain."

 

"What was that noise?"

 

"The correct answer is 'never leave a man behind'. So why did you leave Tony behind?"

 

"I thought he'd be okay! He had the suit, and he's an engineering genius Rhodes. I didn't think I did that much dama-"

 

The phone and Steve once again went flying in opposite directions at the shrieking noise that came down the line. Once he'd gathered himself again, Steve snapped at the colonel.

 

"Really Rhodes? What the hell was that?"

 

"That, Captain Rogers," responded the colonel, "was an air horn. Since you don't listen to people I thought you might listen to that instead. Now, why did you leave Tony behind in a non-functioning suit, in a Hydra base, in Siberia?"

 

The ice in his spine woke up at the mention of Siberia. He'd been right, this was Laura all over again. Except Rhodes had been Tony's friend for donkeys' years and wasn't going to hold back.

 

"Because," Steve held the phone a distance from his ear, "I thought his suit was still in working condition. I've seen Tony take damage in the field before and still make it home fine."

 

He shivered in relief at the lack of air horn.

 

"Rogers," Rhodes asked slowly, "was the arc reactor destroyed any of those times?"

 

"Well, no, not that I can think of. Tony didn't share a lot about the armour."

 

There was a dull thud on the other end of the line. To Steve's ears it sounded suspiciously like a head making contact with a table. He didn't want to have this conversation either, but at least Colonel Rhodes was a plain speaking military man. The pair needed to talk and it was better that both were on even ground for this.

 

"What happens when you take the batteries out of a flashlight, Rogers? It stops working. What you're telling me is that either you don't understand how batteries work, or you simply didn't care enough to think about what would happen to the suit after you destroyed its battery."

 

"Rhodes I know what the arc reactor is--"

 

"So you didn't care then. It was still in his chest when you met him and you tried to put it back fucking in there with your shield."

 

"It's not that I didn't care!"

 

"Right. How cold is the Arctic Ocean Rogers?"

 

"What?"

 

"You don't need to image it, you know yourself. The surface has to reach 30°F for water to freeze, did you know that? Do you know how cold Siberia gets within the Arctic Circle? Even colder. Tony is so dam lucky that the suit has basic life support that runs separate from the main arc or he would have been dead from hypothermia. Even luckier that he managed to stay warm enough to avoid frostbite."

 

Steve grabbed for his discarded duvet as the ice Laura planted raced through his body. He could remember it, remember it too well. The numbness and burning needle pain of the water. He'd felt the cold in Siberia, but between relief and panic and anger he hadn't _felt_ it. Steve wouldn't wish the ice on anyone.

 

"Is he okay though? Apart from what I did, I mean? You said he was lucky..." He shivered, question left hanging between them before the air horn shrieked again and Steve muffled it with his pillow.

 

"You, you don't get to ask if Tony is 'okay', Rogers. Not after what you did. Don't try and pretend you're still his friend. Not after lying to him while expecting complete transparency. _Especially_ not after leaving him in a Hydra base. Maybe go talk to Sam about leaving a man behind especially in enemy territory."

 

Rhodes steam rolled over Steve's attempt to interrupt.

 

"Ah ah ah don't talk to me about it being abandoned, that's still not okay. It was a Hydra base, we're all lucky that those Nazis weren't there to get a hold of Tony. Imagine what Hydra could do with a compliant Tony Stark; a genius engineer? What they would do to him to get him compliant?"

 

He knew what they would do, had read enough about Bucky's treatment while captured. The idea of Tony being made into a weapon was going to come back as a nightmare now. You deserve it, the ice whispered and Steve returned his focus to the phone in his trembling hand.

 

"I'm guessing that's not all you called to talk about, Colonel?" He's thankful that his voice came out steady, didn't betray just how shaken and off-kilter he felt.

 

"How is it Captain, that you can look at a document supported by over one hundred countries, and decide that they're all corrupt?"

 

"Well," Steve braced for the air horn, "I trusted Shield, and they turned out to be Hydra-"

 

Against the sound of the air horn Steve could just hear Rhodes sigh.

 

"Shield was a classified branch of the American government's espionage agencies. It was self-auditing and no one outside of the agency ever heard of it unless they intended for that person to become a part of it. One hundred and seventeen countries each had their own people elect their leaders and their politicians. Each of the countries listed that support the accords represent the opinions of the millions of people that voted those leaders in. You told those people, who just wanted to feel safe, to know that destruction like Nigeria wouldn't be brought to their homes without warning, that their opinion didn't matter. That you knew best, Captain America. Do you really think that Hydra could sway the opinions of that many people, and the leaders of that many countries? You had them by the short and curlies when you were hunting Barnes. They weren't in a position to manipulate a fucking rubik's cube."

 

Steve didn't say anything, just sat with the phone pressed to his ear. It made sense, the way the Colonel put it. It didn't mean that Hydra hadn't managed to corrupt people, but to have control of the majority of 117 countries?

 

"Tony offered to have the accords amended. He told me you rejected the offer when you heard about Maximoff. What is it with that woman that means you throw every good thing under the bus for her? If I didn't know better, she's still got her hooks in you."

 

"No, no Wanda wouldn't do that. She's an Avenger now. There's nothing going wrong with my mind." How could the Colonel think that? Wanda was working to make up for her mistakes.

 

Rhodes snorts, and Steve doesn't know what to think of such a response. Before he can formulate his own, he's thrown another curve ball.

 

"Rogers, did you ever talk to anyone when you woke up from the ice? A psychiatrist or therapist or something? Or after DC, especially then."

 

Steve wrapped himself further in his blanket. The older military man's question was worrying, and Steve held the phone from his ear just in case the air horn made a reappearance.

 

"I spoke to a shrink once when Shield woke me up but they cleared me. My psych eval was clean and I'm not crazy Rhodes." Steve snapped, hunching into his blanket. He wasn't like old Mister Andrews, rocking in his chair and talking to the walls. Why would Rhodes even-

 

"Then Shield failed you, Rogers. You went to war and went on to be an active field agent. You realise that you've probably got PTSD, what used to be called Shell Shock? You've been through a hell load of trauma. Doesn't mean you're crazy, and doesn't excuse your behaviour or actions - but it is something to think about going forward."

 

What? He didn't have shell shock. He'd seen men with it and he fit none of the symptoms. He didn't flinch at sharp objects or have that thousand yard stare. But so much of what Rhodes said made sense. Maybe once the ice receded, maybe he'd find out more about it.

 

"... so don't expect anything Rogers. Quite frankly you don't deserve it, but I know Tones, he's got a heart bigger than his tower." Steve tuned back in at the mention of Tony. "He's got good people around him now, people who won't betray him or use him. T'Challa, Pepper, Laura, the Barton kids, Friday, Happy, _me_."

 

_Not you. Not the Avengers._

 

"You fucked up Rogers. You lied to him, you used him, and then you betrayed him. All of you deserve prison time for what you did - Germany and Romania included - and if I could I'd make sure you rotted in there. You've got time Rogers, have a think. Oh, and don't go getting your hopes up about talking to Tony. We aren't gonna let you _near_ him."

 

"I understand that Colonel, but is he okay-"

 

The air horn shrieked and Steve shoved his head under his pillow. He just wanted to know if his friend was alright. The ice danced over his ribs and tickled at his sternum. What Rhodes said about the Accords and Siberia, what had he done?

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I feel I should mention that this was finished and posted the day after I had general anaesthetic (very minor thing, I'm okay). I'm not 100% back to my usual self so there might be more errors and a weird flow to this sorry.
> 
> I've got a couple planned, nothing started yet. Definitely got plans for Natasha, Sharon, maybe Maria Hill (an even bigger maybe for Wanda?) As always, any ideas or requests for this universe and I'll see what I can do :)
> 
> Safe holidays everyone and enjoy yourselves,
> 
> Love,  
> Sheep


End file.
